In my last entry I showed the portable base station I’ve been working on and mentioned needing to do a few more things to finish it. 

I ultimately decided not to build a front panel.  Instead I just fashioned a mic hanger from some ABS plastic and left it open to allow for ventilation.  The radio and the PowerGate both need air to keep cool, so I thought it best to keep both ends open to allow airflow.  So this is the final configuration (for now, anyway):

I also hacked together a UHF-style mount that will let me use a regular mobile antenna (provided it doesn’t need a ground plane).  It was fashioned from a 5/8” hole Larsen bracket fitted to two pieces of aluminum bar stock that I drilled and tapped to screw together.  The vertical piece elevates the Larsen bracket above the top of the flagpole to allow room for a cable to be connected to an SO-239 bulkhead fitting (i.e. antenna on one side, PL-259 cable on the other).  The vertical piece is screwed to a horizontal piece which is drilled to fit a 1 1/2” U-shaped pipe bracket. 

As an aside, I have no idea why I’ve been calling it RadioZilla, other than it’s big, bulky, and emits (RF) radiation.  It just sort of popped into my head.